


i'd like it if you stayed (and i like you)

by KingOfBiohazards



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fantasy AU, Happy Ending, Knight!Tony, M/M, T'Challa and Sam are only mentioned, king!steve, very slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 04:07:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19287793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KingOfBiohazards/pseuds/KingOfBiohazards
Summary: Steve gets a knight assigned to be his bodyguard. He's not happy about it (at first).





	i'd like it if you stayed (and i like you)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunatical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatical/gifts).



> This is my first time writing a fantasy au! Hope you enjoy :^) I had a lot of fun writing it.

As with most decisions the council makes, he disagrees.

"Absolutely not." Steve says. He's putting his foot down on this one. 

"Sorry, your majesty, but it's already been decided. The knight we have chosen is already on his way."

_Well, shit_ Steve thinks. Just what he needs right now. If he were any less mature, he'd be pouting. But alas, he's a king and kings don't pout.

"Quit pouting." Bucky says.

"I hate you." Steve replies.

 

\-----

 

"What are you but an arrogant man in a suit of armor?" Steve's being mean, he knows, but he's stressed and this strange man isn't helping. He tried desperately to change the councils mind and let him protect himself. He didn't need a bodyguard, damnit, especially not one who thought himself to be better than everyone. 

"Well, I've been told I'm the best knight this side of New York, but I guess everyone has their own opinions." The man, Tony, said. 

"I don't want you here, and I don't trust you." Steve gritted out, poking Tony's chest with his finger. Tony took a small step back and glared, crossing his arms.

"No offense, your majesty, but I don't really care. I was hired to protect you and so I will; we don't have to be friends. You don't even have to like me, but you will have to tolerate me." Tony bit back.

"I didn't ask for this." Steve says, unable to stop himself from making it explicitly clear that he can _take care of himself_.

Tony rolls his eyes and sighs. "Look, I know, you're a big brave king and you don't need protection; I get it. But drop the attitude, _sir_. Both the council and your citizens wanted you protected, and who better than me? You'll have to get over it."

"You think you can talk this way to a king?"

"You're a king, not a god. Lighten up a little." Tony says, poking Steve back.

"Lighten up?! Have you seen the state of things? We're getting attacked from all angles and I'm running out of men to protect this place." Steve says, throwing a hand up.

"I'm here to help with that, too. Surely you're not gonna complain about getting help to protect your citizens?" Tony points out, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever. Just don't get in my way." Steve works his jaw and shakes his head. He turns to walk back to his quarters and stiffens when he hears metallic footsteps behind him. "You have to follow me to my room as well?" 

"I'm not supposed to leave your side. I'll stay out of your room if you want, though. But if you want a little company in there..." Tony says, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Steve flushes and huffs, throwing his door open. "Just stay out here." He says.

"You got it, your majesty." Tony replies easily, leaning against the far wall. "I was told they're fixing a room for me across the hall from you, but for now I'm on duty which means I stand watch over your door." Tony smirks unabashedly and a shiver runs down Steve's spine involuntarily. 

"I hate this." He says. 

"So you've said." Tony drawls. Steve slams his door shut. 

This is the worst.

He's got rogue bands of thieves and murderers attacking the city, all of them attempting to overthrow Steve and the council. The attacks started seemingly randomly, but Steve picked up a pattern after a while. All of them seem to report to the same person or group of people, but Steve has yet to figure out who. It's almost as if someone got a bunch of outsiders together and said "whoever kills the king wins a bunch of riches". It's not a very far fetched theory; he's heard of things like this happening before. In the long term he needs to find the source and end it there, but short term he needs to deal with the attacks being made right now. The attacking groups alone aren't that difficult to deal with, Steve has the best group of knights in the world after all, but it all builds up and he's getting tired. 

Adding another rogue element, a glorified bodyguard, on top of that isn't making the situation any better. Tony is just here to protect him, Steve tries to tell himself, but it's hard to trust someone you just met. Especially when you have a hatred for change. Also, Steve can take care of himself thank you very much. He's a king, for God's sake; he didn't get here by being soft and vulnerable.

 

\-----

 

After a week of Tony being Steve's shadow, he's starting to get used to it. Which is a very very dangerous thing. 

Tony is still annoying, and infuriating at times, but as loathe as Steve is to admit it, Tony has started to become a comfort for him. A friend, maybe. And he _is_ actually very helpful, with both Steve's problems and the kingdoms problems as a whole. 

They make a good team. 

Steve washes the dirt and blood off his hands; the East side got attacked today, by a significantly large group of people. The attacks are growing everyday, with more people and more weapons. It's starting to become an even bigger problem that Steve thought. They were able to handle this one before they did much harm, but knight Sam is injured and will be out for a while. Steve's running out of knights. Between injuries, betrayals, and deaths, New York is running quite low on protection. There's not much more he can do about it besides continue to fight and keep the citizens safe. 

 

\-----

 

A week later he receives a knock on his door late at night. He answers it carefully, checking to see who it is before opening it all the way. It's Tony, with a bundle of paper in his arms. 

"Can I come in?" He asks, slightly out of breath. He's dressed down in casual clothes, and Steve tries hard not to look him over too closely. Tony's a fit guy, alright? You can't blame him for wanting to take a peek.

"Sure." Steve says, pulling the door fully open. Tony steps in and past Steve to his desk, spreading the papers out. 

"I think I'm close to figuring out who's at the center of these attacks." Tony says, tapping on one of the papers. 

Steve's eyes widen and he hurries over, letting Tony explain what he found out. 

They don't know exactly who it is yet, but Tony triangulated the person to a small town just outside the border. Whether or not they're still there is unknown, but most of the orders have been coming from that area so Tony said he's almost sure they are.

Steve's so happy he could almost kiss the other man. But he's not going to. Because he's a king, and he has self control and dignity. Kind of. Well, a little bit. 

It's not good for him to be distracted by this.

Steve- well, Steve cares more about his citizens than anything else. His main goal is to keep them safe, happy, and healthy. It's why he's king, after all. What kind of leader would he be if he didn't put his people first, above everything? Steve doesn't want to see his people fall due to his own failures. If he wants to be a good king, a protector, then he's gonna need to keep a very close eye on Knight Tony. New York has been through far too much to be betrayed now. _Steve_ has been through far too much to be betrayed. Tony, for what it's worth, seems like a good man, and loathe as Steve is to admit, they appear to be _friends_ now. He did hate the man at first, but things change when you get to know someone. 

In this case, things changed _a lot_. More than Steve had anticipated. It was far off to think they'd ever be _friends_ , but to ever think that Steve would be smitten for the man? An unimaginable outcome. Yet it's completely untenable. Steve is head over heels for the once thought to be arrogant knight. He knows better now. If there's anything Steve knows about himself, it's that he's a proud man. And proud men? They don't admit things like this. It's growth, maybe, or some weird burst of self courage. Whatever it is, Steve's a king who has a thing for a knight, and that's just an all around bad break.

What is he supposed to do now? 

Ignore it, probably. Squash it deep down in his chest and pretend he doesn't ache when he sees Tony milling about in the halls, or reading in Steve's room, or gesturing enthusiastically and effectively launching spoonfuls of potatoes everywhere during supper. Steve sighs and tries not to think too hard about it. He's got other more pressing matters to deal with right now.

For example, whoever the fuck keeps launching seemingly unwarranted attacks on New York. There has to be a source, he knows, everything has a source. They haven't had any fatalities yet, thank God, but a fair share of people are injured and multiple buildings have been burned right to the ground. It's painful for Steve to see his people struggling, and not being able to help in the ways he wants is killing him. He wants to find whoever's responsible for this, and wipe them out. Steve isn't the murdering sort, but this person won't come out the other side unscathed if he has anything to say about it. 

 

\-----

 

Two weeks later and Steve is having trouble keeping his hands off Tony. He's a weak, weak man. Not physically, but... you get it. He started out hating Tony, constantly annoyed by the other man. Now he can't help but want to sit and listen to Tony talk all day long. Then take the knight to his bed and kiss him for a very, very long time. He really has it bad, doesn't he...

Steve's door slams open then and Tony bursts in. "Steve! I found out who the source is!"

"What? Really?"

"Yeah! They're still in that town we spoke about before. Apparently, they think themselves fit to be king of New York, and want to overthrow you." 

"Brilliant! Well, you know what I mean. I'll be glad to have this over with." Steve says excitedly.

"Yeah, then I can get out of your hair." Tony jokes.

"I... yeah, I- I guess so. Listen, I-"

"Excuse me?" Someone says, knocking on Steve's open door. 

"Oh, Bucky, come in." Steve says, gesturing. "Tony found out who's behind all of these attacks. Get everyone we have and prepare for travel."

"You got it. We received news from King T'Challa over in Wakanda, and he's offered some back up for us should we need it." Bucky says.

"Excellent. Send my thanks. I'll bring the details down to the armory later. We'll head out tomorrow." Steve tells him.  
Bucky nods and salutes, before winking at Tony and turning back down the hall. 

"You're not going." Tony says, crossing his arms.

"Excuse me?"

"You're the king! You can't leave your kingdom to go battle; it's too dangerous and you can't leave the city unattended." Tony says, like it's obvious. It kind of is. 

"But that's what I have you for, isn't it? To protect me?" Steve says. 

Tony's face twitches and he sighs. "Yes, but as the person hired to protect you, I can't let you go. You have a competent army and me as well, we can handle it. You can't leave New York on it's own."

Steve frowns. As much as he wants to help, Tony has a point. An infuriating point. "Fine. I'm trusting you with this, don't let me down."

"When have I ever let you down?" Tony teases.

"Yeah, yeah, get out of here and bring the details to the armory. I have to go to the council and tell them about all of this, and make sure they have that Wakandan backup on stand-by." Steve says. Tony smiles and salutes, grabbing some papers he left on Steve's desk and heading out the door. 

Steve sighs and sits on the edge of his bed, head falling into his hands. What's he supposed to do now? He's become infatuated with his bodyguard knight. A knight who will be leaving soon.

This is... a problem. Maybe he could... No, that's out of the question. But, maybe... Ugh, it's hard being a king but it's hard dealing with romance, too. 

He sinks further into his mattress and groans, headache pulsing behind his eyes. He's tired, he's stressed, and he just wants Tony and a good nights sleep.

Why does he always end up wanting what he can't have?

 

\-----

 

Steve sees the knights off the next day, making sure they're all prepared and well equipped. Tony tells him not to worry, that they have this under control, but Steve is anxious anyway. 

"I don't feel good about leaving you." Tony says, just before they head out. 

"It's okay, Tony. You were hired to protect me, right? And that's what you're doing. Everything will be fine here." Steve says, smiling softly.

Tony breathes out slowly and smiles back. "Take care of yourself, alright?"

"Of course." Steve assures. 

And then he waits.

He waits four whole days for any word from his knights. None of them have returned yet, but they hadn't sent for backup. So either something very bad happened, or Steve's just paranoid. Odds are it's the latter, and he really hopes that's the case.

So he waits, and he worries. He's a worrier at his very core. He hates sitting around and waiting for something to go wrong; He'd rather have a hand on the reigns. Something could've happened out there and he won't know until either someone returns or someone leaves to look for them. All in all, Steve feels completely helpless. His people are safe for now, rebuilding is going well, they have no shortage in supplies or food, but his best knights are away and he doesn't know when, or even if, they'll return. It's times like these when he wishes he'd have stayed a knight instead of becoming king. That's what he is at his core, a soldier. But... But, he's also a leader, he reminds himself. He's a good leader, and so he will do what is necessary. If staying behind while other people fight is necessary, well, he'll just have to suck it up and trust in his knights. They're smart, strong, and all around competent. They'll have no problem taking this person down. 

Except, this guy might have a whole army working for him, versus 12 knights. It's not very evenly matched, if that's the case. But they've overcome worse odds before and come out on top, so why should now be any different?

Steve still worries. What else is new?

So it's entirely understandable that he's not expecting a wakeup call in the middle of the night. It can't be later than 4am, and he blinks until his eyes adjust to the sudden lantern light. 

"Excuse me, sir, but the knights have returned and we thought you ought to know." Lantern holder says. Steve can't quite remember their name, but he thinks he recalls them part of the stable crew. It doesn't really matter right now, though, because _they're back_.

"Where?" He asks, quickly pulling on some pants and grabbing a lantern off his bedside table.

"Approaching the front gates now, sir." They say.

"Thank you." Steve says, rushing past them and out the door. He dashes as quick as he can to the front gates, arriving just as they open. Breathlessly, he counts heads and sighs in relief when he counts 12. They're all here. 

Tony leads the herd of knights through the gates and Steve approaches him excitedly.

"Tony! You're back!" He grins. "Is everyone okay? Did you find the person responsible?"

"Yes, and yes." Tony chuckles. "No one was hurt. We found the guy. Forgot what his name was, but apparently his whole deal was that he wanted to overthrow you and become king. He put up a fight but was ultimately unprepared. Didn't live through it all." The knight explains.

Steve sighs in relief and barely stops himself from pulling Tony into a hug. "I'm just glad it's all over." Steve admits.

"Yeah, me too." Tony says, but he scuffs the dirt with his boot awkwardly and frowns. 

"Tony? Are you okay?" Steve asks.  
"What?" He asks, looking up. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I guess this means my job here is done, eh?" Tony says, and his tone is light and teasing but there's a sadness in his eyes and he's frowning.

"Well... Listen, Tony, I've got something to ask you." Steve says nervously. It's now or never. Steve's a king, for God's sake, he can do this.

"Sure, anything." Tony says.

Steve musters every ounce of courage he has. "Would you, maybe, want to stay for awhile? We could always use an extra knight and, well, I've gotten quite used to your company." He says shyly, face flushing red.

Tony beams from ear to ear. "I'd be honored too, your majesty." Tony says. Steve softens and his shoulders slump in relief. Thank God. He wasn't ready to say goodbye. "Can I ask you something in return?" Tony adds.

"Of course." Steve says.

"Can I kiss you?" Tony asks.

Steve blushes from head to toe and lets out a deep breath. "Yeah." He says softly, stepping closer to Tony.

Tony smiles softly and leans in, chapped lips pressing against Steve's. This turned out better than he ever would've thought.

**Author's Note:**

> If there are any mistakes, please let me know :^) I hope you liked it! Sorry it's short


End file.
